Day 17 - Glitter - Wet n Wild Night Prowl

I have been bit by the Halloween bug and really excited about dark vampy colors. So, for the glitter challenge, I reached for a color that is both deliciously dark and glittery. The glitter was a bit hard to capture with the camera and it looks better in person. The color is Night Prowl from the Wet n Wild main line, but it has recently been re-released (as far as I can tell) as Purple Potion in the tombstone shaped Fantacy Maker.

The polish itself is a black base packed with purple glitter. The glitter sparkles beautifully through the base and is not at all overpowered by the black. Application was great, I applied two coats plus a top coat. It probably could have benefited from a thicker topcoat or at least a second layer. I have been wearing it all weekend and loving it :)

Just look at that glitter...

Outside, slightly blinded and very reflective in the sun...

Brand: Wet n Wild   Collection: Wild Shine - Main Line   Color Name/Number: Night Prowl, C467 Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Acetone+

I mentioned earlier in the week that I broke 6 out of 10 of my nails over the weekend. Now those are pretty bad odds if you are a nail, so I decided to give them some much needed R&R and try to figure out why they have been so weak and splitting lately. It could be a lot of things causing it, but for me it is probably the increased stress, nail polish and acetone use. Since there is not much I can do about stress and I'm not ready to give up nail polish, I decided to do something about the pure acetone.

I have heard rave reviews of Zoya's Remove+, but have been hesitant to shell out the big bucks. I decided it was time to try loodie loodie loodie's dupe for the much talked about remover. For the full, detailed explanation of how this works, please make sure to visit her blog post. Her blog is just amazing when it comes to nail care tips and techniques.

I started out with a 16oz bottle of 100% Pure Acetone, a 6oz bottle of Glycerin and an empty acetone bottle for mixing (not in the photo, but identical to the acetone bottle).

Per loodie loodie loodie, the proportion of glycerin to acetone is about 1-2 tablespoons to 200mL. In an attempt to make the recipe easier for me to duplicate in the future, I went with existing lines on the bottle. I poured glycerin to the 1st line on the bottle. It took a little less than 1/4th of the glycerin bottle (about 1.5oz or 3 tablespoons). I then poured acetone to the next line on the bottle (about 8oz = ~240mL).

I shook the heck out of this mixture which promptly separated when I stopped shaking, so I started adding water in little bits and shaking in between until all of the glycerin was incorporated into the acetone. It ended up taking about 3 tablespoons of water for this to happen.

I marked everything on the bottle so you can see the proportions here...

So did it work? YES, I love this remover. Over the years I have tried a number of nail polish removers with and without acetone and have always been frustrated at how much effort it took to remove the nail polish. If this is an even close dupe to Zoya's Remove+ (which I have never tried), then I can see why it is such a big hit. Using this mixture of acetone + glycerin worked just as well as pure acetone for removing the polish, but take a look at my nails...

Nail polish on the index finger was removed using pure acetone and on the middle finger using the acetone + glycerin mixture. The nail, cuticle and skin around the nail on the index finger were white and dry after just a few swipes with the acetone soaked cotton ball. The middle finger actually looked better after I removed the polish than before. Is that even possible? Either way, I love it! I can't believe the difference. It is the only thing I'll be using on my nails from now on :)

UPDATE: See my followup post with an improved formula.

What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Halloween Inspiration...

While my nails are still getting some much needed R&R, I have been catching up on blogs I follow and admiring some of the Halloween manicures out there. I thought I would share a few that struck my fancy :)

I might have to give one or two of these a try... what about you?

Andayn Nails	Andayn Nails
Simply Rins ** includes tutorial **	Simply Rins ** includes tutorial **
Colores de Carol	Tartofraises Nail Art
I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous	Nails by Kayla Shevone ** includes tutorial **

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)